Shadow Saga: The legacy of Gerald
by Kojiokida2
Summary: Set in a SatAM style universe but with fleetway style addons; Sonic has defeated the Empire’s Chaos creature, at the cost of Johnny Lightfoot’s life. Now, in a bid to seize Power, Snivley unleashes a new enemy. Shadow! chap 3 up
1. Chapter 1

(I do not own Sonic…etc.)

Chapter one: Beginnings….

It was no secret amongst the high ranking officials of the Robotnik Empire that the dictator himself was on a short fuse after the mercenary Sonic captured Chaos, The Empire's greatest creature and ruined their plans for the destruction of Station Square and the giant G.U.N garrison stationed there. The creature was now sealed inside a block of ice, frozen solid, the three Chaos Emeralds that had given it it's fantastic power scattered to the winds.

Robotnik was so angry because he knew if Chaos had been given the remaining four emeralds, he would have been invincible. The fact that G.U.N was holding the Empire's own forces at bay was not helping matters either.

The lightning conquest Robotnik had experienced when he first set out to…._unite_…all of Mobius under his banner had slackened into a stalemate, and the most insulting thing? G.U.N had been salvaging the shattered remains of his androids and stealing the advanced technology to build advanced fighting machines of their own. As one may expect, Robotnik was never in a good mood these days.

"They're thieves…." He said between clenched teeth, both fists clenched as they pressed against the control pad of the monitor, upon which their technical readouts gained by the intelligence division of the various different robots G.U.N currently had on the front line. Most of them were large piloted Mech Walkers called Big Foots, armed to the teeth with missile launchers and machine guns. A clear copy of his own Egg Walker design.

The robotic foot soldiers they were using were also obviously copied from his SWAT Bot blue prints. These laser hunters were thinner than his robots, but armed with high intensity lasers rather than automatic machine guns. "How dare they insult me this way!" Robotnik had not left that seat at the monitor for so long he had actually gained a large orange beard and he smelt terrible. His red uniform was unbuckled down the middle and hung almost lifelessly around his shoulders.

Snivley had seen his uncle in better moods that was for certain. He stood to attention beside the entrance to the room, trying not to laugh at the state his proud, arrogant and pigheaded relative was in. Luckily, with most of the face under his large nose hidden beneath a thick canvas yellow scarf he didn't have to suppress the smug smile. The long hair on the left hand side of his head hanging down over his eye, Snivley watched carefully, waiting patiently for the moment when the dictator would be in a good enough mood to be talk to. For a good half hour he'd been sitting in that chair, talking to himself, brooding over his master plan and how it had all gone disastrously wrong, vaguely aware of his lieutenants presence.

A lot of Robotnik Empire officials were beginning to resent their leader for not only loosing the Chaos emeralds, but also allowing the Egg Carrier; the largest and most powerful ship in the fleet to be destroyed. His supporters fading, Robotnik had descended into a pit of depression and decadence.

"Sir." Snivley said sharply, choosing a moment when Robotnik looked the slightest it more approachable. His uncle shot a glare back over his shoulder. He wasn't wearing his glasses, so his black and red eyes were free to stare directly at his nephew with a piercing glance. "Intelligence has reported back on…." He began, but Robotnik silenced him by raising a hand and then holding out the other, palm upward. Snivley hesitated briefly, before reaching into his green and brown Robotnik Empire uniform and withdrawing a small CD-rom disc in a plastic container, which he handed to his uncle without another word. Robotnik studying it for a moment, before nearly tearing the disc out and placing in directly in the computer.

His expression deepened into an angry portrait as the reports, taken by spies amongst G.U.N's military, flashed up on the large screen. Robotnik's scowl deepened. He growled angrily. He began skipping through the stolen files, looking for anything that might catch his eye. Snivley didn't need to be excused, he could see his uncle was in no mood for company. Quickly he retraced his steps and left the room.

As the two large automatic doors shut behind him, Snilvey couldn't suppress the laughter any more. He'd expected his incompetent Uncle to fail from the beginning. The man was as immature as a three year old and completely unsuited to rule. His precious creature was now in the hands of the Freedom Finger Merc-Scum, beyond his reach.

It was time, while his position was still weakened, to improve Snivley's own standing in the empire. He already had the secret support of a few of the Generals, but if he wanted to take power from his uncle, he needed some extra muscle power.

Snivley travelled down through the citadel towards one of his private laboratory, hidden deep below the robotisation chambers. Robotropalis, the grand capital of the Empire was a giant maze of factories, giant metal towers and pipes. It was here, in the seat of power of the kingdom of Acorn, that Robotnik first set out on his war of conquest. Overthrowing the previous dynasty in a brutal military Coup, seizing most of the populace and subjecting them in large numbers to the Robotisation process, the Doctor established an Empire that now spread over half of Mobius. Those who were spared quickly converted to the Imperial hierarchy, becoming Robotnik's grand council of Generals, each family in charge of a SWAT-bot battalion. For the first five years of the Empire's life, they had prospered under their leader making them fiercely loyal, that is until those Governments that held out against their order banded together to form G.U.N, an alliance that had been holding their forces at bay ever since.

Their mercenary squadron, the Freedom Fighters had been the thorn in Robotnik's side for years, especially their leader; the cocky light footed Sonic the Hedgehog. The dictators had tried time and time again to have him assassinated, but each and every attempt failed. And then Sonic captured Robotnik's Chaos Creature, the one thing that could have won the Empire complete victory, that nearly unbalanced the dictator's mind.

Which was precisely what Snivley had been counting on. He reached into his jacket and withdrew his private key card, slicing it down through the locked, opening the chamber. About a year ago, Snivley had lead an attack on a G.U.N stronghold called Prison Island. During the raid, the Imperials had captured an old bio-stasis pod used in the Overland wars by the invaders ten years ago, inside was a Military project, kept in isolation for over fifty years. It was believe to be an Overlander weapon created to help them when their campaign began. Inside it, was a being of such immense power it could topple the Empire and place Snivley on it's throne in one night.

Naturally, since obtaining it, Snivley had kept it's existence a top secret from his uncle, until he obtained what he needed to lock it and now he had what he needed. The grey Chaos Emerald sat inside a dampening field, undetectable from any of the cities sensors.

The chamber was a large, oval shaped room with a single pillar stretching down from the centre of the ceiling to the floor, wires and thick pipes encircling it. At the back of the room, it's base engulfed in similar wires and pipes was the stolen stasis pod. It was a large, egg shaped machine with a clear top revealing a frozen liquid interior, a dark shadow highlighting the middle. The G.U.N logo had all but rusted off the side of it. No Swat bots or Robotasized personnel guarded this room for one very good reason. Snivley simply couldn't trust them. While they had no free will of their own, anyone with level two security clearance could access their memory files. For this project, Snivley had to work alone and that was what he did for an entire year, readying the equipment for what could be his one and only chance to revive the greatest work of his great grandfather. The equipment was old, and any sudden attempt at re-animation would utterly destroy it, killing the creature inside. The thawing progress had to be slow and steady. But he had reached the point were it was now safe to attempt reanimation.

Reaching the console, a fifty year old computer service appeared on screen, asking for user Data and a password. Snivley already had complete access to all the military files during the raid and already knew the password.

"M..A..R..I..A." He said absently to himself, before pressing the execute button. There was a dull thud and the machines around him began the lengthy process. The power from the Grey Chaos Emerald, placed inside the pillar in the centre of the room flowed along several conduits and fed itself directly into the heart of the stasis pod, filling it with a soft green glow. Snivley could see the ice inside beginning to slowly dissolve, a wide smile crossed his face.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" The lieutenant spun around to see another of Robotnik's underlings standing behind him like she had always been there. Alicia was Robotnik's most favoured lieutenant. During the Coup he had snatched her from her family and trained her to be an unstoppable assassin. "Seems the wart has finally grown a back bone." Alicia had been a member of the fallen House of Acorn, her father a mobian chipmunk and her mother a squirrel, resulting in her, a hybrid of both. Thin brown fur and dark blue eyes, her head fur a blazing blood red, tied back into a long pony tail behind her. Strangely, a Robotnik Empire uniform flattered her figure quiet well.

"How did you get in here?" Snivley demanded. He knew what this wretch was completely loyal to Robotnik and would not hesitate to turn him in. All he had to do however was to keep her talking long enough for the creature to thaw. A thick grin spread over Alicia's face and she glanced past Snivley to the stasis pod, bathing the light of a Chaos Emerald.

"If Robotnik finds out about this little plan or yours, robotisation will be the least of your worries."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Snivley began walking backwards defensibly. Alicia levelled her eyebrows.

"Don't insult me Snivley. I've know about your ambitions for years." Snivley grimaced, knowing that it was unlikely she was lying. Alicia was the head of intelligence division. It was here job to learn all she could to further the Empire's efforts of expansions, of course she was known to stick her nose into interior affairs often enough. She walked past him, put her hands on her hips and took a good look at the stasis pod. "Of course, I suppose if you cut me in to this little operation, I could keep my mouth shut." The lieutenant's eyes widened in stunned amusement. She looked back at him with a smile on her face. "You're not the only one with ambition you know."

"How do I know I can trust you?" He asked.

"You can't." She replied promptly. "And I don't particularly trust you. We have a common goal, it would be in our best interests if we cooperate with one another." Alicia would slice his head off without even alerting him to her presence if she wanted. Snivley had helped supervise her training so he was already aware of that. What stunned him was that she was even offering this to him. He has thought her Robotnik's loyal creature.

There was a sudden loud hissing sound caught their attention as a thick wave of steam erupted from a hair line fracture on the side of the pod, filling the chamber with a thick white mist. Snivley spun around to face it, his eyes wide as the top half of the pod swung open on a hinge slamming against the wall behind it. Several layers of coating metal plates pealed itself away like an onion and a geyser of steam erupted into the room. Snivley held his breath for a few seconds as a dark shape with long spikes on it's back slid into a sit up.

"Just what is…"Alicia began, stepping backwards. The dark shape stood up to it's full height and a pair of blood red eyes snapped open. Slowly, it's head turned to look directly at them at their hearts stopped, it's gaze filled with nothing but hate and malice.

Snivley swallowed hard and approached very slowly.

"S…sh…Shadow." He began, genuinely terrified. He had not known what form the creature would take. Many possibilities had run through his mind before today but this had not been one of them. The creature's eyes narrowed and swiftly it leapt down from the top of the pod, landing firmly on two feet in front of them. Slowly the mist around them began to clear and more of the creature's features were revealed. It was like a mobian hedgehog, with thin black fur over his entire body. Thick red streaks ran over his quills and up and down his legs. A tuft of white fur sprouted out of his chest, hiding his broad shoulders. Apart from a pair of black and gold rings around his wrists, this 'Shadow' was completely naked. He was the near spitting image of Sonic, the leader of the mercenary Freedom Fighters.

The black and red hedgehog was silent for a moment, fixing the two of them both with a glare one after the other, a thick smile crossed his lips.

The bell rang with a strangely loud clank and already Koji's opponent was half way across the ring, a fist drawn back, the roar of the crowd already stinging the bat's ears. Koji grimaced, flapping his large black wings to push himself to the side in time to avoid a swing. His chestnut brown fur highlighted by the spotlights high above, so bright in fact that it was stinging his eyes. Any normal mobian would have been able to fight without too much difficultly, but being a bat, who weren't used to excessive amounts of light, all he could see was a white haze.

But that really didn't matter, bats did not operate by mainly sight. His erect ears were twitching, listening for every sound that wasn't being screamed at him by the crowd. There was a heavy foot step from behind him and a delay second of hesitation was all Koji needed to swing his leg around, knocking his opponent, a large mobian badger with bulging muscles over. He grunted loudly as it struck the canvas, the back of his head against the wooden side of the ring.

Koji brushed a few strands of head fur out of the way of his eyes, trying his best to rearrange in it's middle parting, but ended up with more loose hairs then he started with. His flaxen yellow eyes blinked, still rendered useless by the light. At that moian, the crowd began roaring as his opponent rose from the canvas, making it nearly impossible for him to hear.

"Dad, one-o-clock!" Came the voice from his corner and the bat instinctively swung several punches in that direction, connecting with the jaw line of…something, but at that point it could very well be the referee. Luckily for him, the ref was on the other side of the ring at the time. Before Koji could co-ordinate himself again, someone took hold of the white shirt he was wearing and tossed him across the ring into a corner. The metal bar slamming directly into the soft, sore spot between his shoulder blades and wings.

Someone, somewhere was shouting…**foul! **But apparently no one was listening. Koji righted himself, wiping a good deal of sweat from his forehead. He could hear him now as he crossed the ring, but the blow in that exact spot had left him slow and sluggish. His limbs wouldn't move as fast as his brain told them to, their movements were slow and poorly coordinated.

"Come on Okida, you've beaten tougher guys than this idiot before!" Shouted another voice from the corner and the bat was reminded of everything that had happened up until this very moment and somehow, he found himself fast again. A moment of precision was all he needed then, to leap at his opponent and using powerful beats from his wings to hovered in the air for a moment, before dropping down head first. To the crowds delight, he had pulled of his signature move, The Vampire Bite. Someone began counting and by the time they reached ten, the badger hadn't risen. The bell rung and finally the lights dimmed, restoring Koji's sight as he rose up from his crouch, breathing hard. First he made out the ring, and the black and white object lying a few inches away from the tips of his brown boots. Beyond that were the stands were the fans for both fighters had gathered for the underground match, illegal fighting tournaments on every level but nobody seemed to care.

"That was your third and final test." A Walrus standing near his corner said as the bat retreated to it, before jolting over the side and landing outside the ring. "Congratulations, you made the team." He added, outstretching a hand. Koji shook it, using the other hand to reach for a towel to wipe his forehead.

"Dad you were amazing!" Another voice shouted, before a smaller bat ran up. Rikoye Okida was another vampire bat and like all of their children, he had no wings. As they were so large in this breed, they would emerge during puberty. Koji still had the scars from his "summoning", the vampire ceremony of adulthood. Rikoye was only a year older than cream, with snow white fur and yellow eyes. Like his step father, his hair was set in a middle parting and thin. Bounding after him was a large, scaly winged animal about the size of a cow with large curving goat like horns on the top of it's head and spikes along it's back, a set of small wings pressed against it's back. This was Chary, the Green Ice Dragon. Rikoye had had the misfortune of being the only one around when he hatched, and Dragons being near animalistic and impressionable when they first hatch, Chary got it into his head that Rikoye was his mother. Since then, the two of them had been hear inseparable. As a team they proved to be more trouble then they were worth, the tales of pranks and mess they inspired were almost legendary.

"It's an honour, truly." Koji replied, catching his breath. "Although to be honest, I got the impression that Sonic isn't happy your about recruiting program." The Walrus, Rotor, the scientist technician for the Freedom Fighter shook his head.

"You'll have to forgive Sonic, he never approved of any one else joining the group since Johnny died." Koji stretched his wings out to their full seven foot wing span, until he heard a loud snap and then refolded them. "It's a little complicated."

"I'll just have to earn his trust." He said calmly. Rotor whistle, shaking his head.

"That'll be near mission Impossible believe me." Koji chuckled and reached for his jacket and drape, lying on the floor next to the edge of the ring. The Jacket was brown and sleeveless, made from leather like his boots. Several buttons had come off. His drape was blood red and he wrapped it around his shoulders, gently covering the hideous scars on his back.

"You know dad, I want to sign up too, Can I?" Rikoye said cheerfully as Charey flipped the bat up onto his back and began plodding alongside them as they made their way to the side entrance from the arena. Koji laughed and ruffled his sons hair, he knew he didn't like that, but it was fun to watch him squirm.

"I think your mother would tear me a new opening." He replied, the vague picture flashing up in his mind before he banished it. "So when do I take the Mech pilot test?"

"In a couple of days." Rotor replied. "The top score is over five hundred and ten."

"And who scored that?"

"Antoine." Koji looked up, bewilderment clear on his face. "Yes I know it doesn't sound likely, given his often baffling cowardice. But despite his faults, he's one of the best Mech pilots we have."

"Well did he pass?" A voice asked as they approached the far end of the tunnel and outside into the car park, the street lamps turning off one by one as the early morning light began to emerge, however they were all overshadowed by the presence of a large reptile with large wings towering above them, an adult version of Charey. Dulcy, although the same colour as Chary, was a Fire type. As such, she had red quills running down his back . Dragons were seen so often now in the cities, her large size hardly attracted any attention at all. The Robotnik Empire had been trying to capture Dragons for Robotisation many times, but the flying reptiles had proved elusive creatures.

The mercenary band's head quarters was a location not even G.U.N knew about, a secluded village miles away from the Capital city called Knothole. Because of it's realisably small size, the Empire didn't have an imperial garrison anywhere near it so the settlement provided a perfect strategic advantage. Still, to keep themselves hidden, they mercenaries hide underneath the village is a especially designed base.

With the village itself a short ways inland, what space between it and the ocean had officially become Dragon breeding territory. Already the large females were picking out spots along the coast in which to lay their eggs, scrapping the sand aside with their large concave claws to create the deep ditches as nests. Since hearing about it from Ember, one of the smaller green dragons, nearly every villager went out buying camera's, wanting to catch the birth of a baby dragon for themselves. They had been warned that the eggs wouldn't hatch for another year, but that didn't stop them. A documentary channel wanted to film the event with a live broadcast, but the female dragons became so flustered and embarrassed by the idea and the pushy reporters themselves that Blaze, the largest Dragon to awaken, his scales as black as charcoal and shiny as silver and as large as a twenty story building had to chase off the reports himself. That sort of deterred them from returning.

"With Flying colours." Rotor replied as the large Dragon lowered his scaled paw, letting the Walrus climb up onto his back, the smaller dragon with it's infant bat passenger quickly following. "Coming Koji, I'd hate for you to miss the look on Sonic's face?" The pig called back. The bat shook his head.

"Nah. I'm going to appreciate the wee hours of the morning. I'll see you at tomorrows briefing." Koji replied, turning his back and letting a hand trail up. After a few steps, he spread his wings, beat them a few time and then flew up into the sky toward the silhouetted outline of the city. Rotor watched him go, becoming a dot against the faint joining of sunlight and moonlight.

"Ok Dulcy, ready to go."

Planet Mobius, the very name aptly meaning eternity, rests on a dimensional focal point, making it easy for beings from other realties to jump from their dimension to this one. Usually, these travellers have little reason to stay, using Planet Mobius as a junction to reach other realties. There were however, groups and individuals who wish to use Mobius' tactical dimension position for their own plans of conquest. To contour act these treats, Mobius has built up a strong military under the rule of Commander and King, Maximilian Acorn. The Kingdom of Acorn had been the defenders for centuries, managing to fend off such invaders like the Drakon and more recently, the Outlander Invasion Force. The might fell however when the Robotnik Empire rose, planning to use Mobius as a home base to launch a massive war of conquest on every reality.

Since the Coup, Robotnik had established many bases over Mobius to strike at any locations and any time he wished. Most of these bases on the eastern side of the world had been dismantled by the military of G.U.N and the Pyramid base in the eastern desert was believed to be one of these, but that was a just a façade.

Robotnik had retracted the base inside the pyramid itself, concealing it from the outside world. It would remain hidden from the Government forces, until it would be too late to do anything about it, or at least that was the plan.

The heat from the blazing desert sun was starting to creep back, replacing the ironically bitterly cold nights. The sands of the desert started to increase in temperature dramatically during the last few minutes, making it nearly impossible to walk on.

Radar swept the barren desert around the pyramid every five minutes, that a tight gap, but do able, a bat with snow white and emerald green eyes watched from her safe preach, a crumbling set of ruins about a mile away from the pyramid itself. A streamlined, black cat suit flattered her figure. On her feet were a pair of knee high white boots with silver heal and pink, heart shaped tips. Her name was Rouge, Rouge the bat.

Just as she thought, this base was still active. Very clever of Robotnik to conceal it here, the last place anyone would think of looking. It was the only one still operating in this region, so this would be where she would start her mission. Spreading her wings, she leapt into the air. She was a fruit bat and her wings weren't as large as a vampire bats, but they still managed to carry her over the sands. The watch of her wrist was counting down from fifty, when the timer reached zero the radar sweep would pass and pick her up. She would have to move fast, get to the base of the pyramid.

She could see the only entrance to the base was a large set of doors located halfway up the pyramid itself. Then main entrance had been a depo on the left hand side, but this gad been completely destroyed by intensive bombing. This smaller entrance would probably be were she'd encounter intense security features.

Her knowledge of the Empire's lockdown systems led her to believe that there was a key code. He flipped the device on the left-hand side of her face down. It had a green eyepiece fitted on a thin frame that swung in ninety degrees up or down. This device allowed her to hack her way into nearly any computer system from a distance. The perfect gadget for a Government agent. Rouge had so many professions, spy, jewel thief, treasure hunter, bounty hunter and the like. With her skills, she could lead the life she wanted, often completely outside the law. Which is probably why the Government liked using her for covert operations, she couldn't be traced to anything. According to any official records, she did not exist.

"So then?" She'd asked their superior when they'd brought her in for another mission. "I'm presuming you didn't drag me in here to dazzle me with those medals?" She added, sipping from her cup. Her superior was a lizard in a military uniform, several medals pinned to his chest. He looked down briefly at his awards. Under his arm he was carrying a small envelope, which he laid on the table in front of her, removing the contents. Documents and photos poured out.

"About a year ago, our Prison Island facility was infiltrated." Rouge looked up from the document she was reading.

"That's impossible isn't it?" She asked. Prison Island surveyed a duel purpose. One was a military base were the great navy fleet was housed and secondly, terror and Imperial suspects and various other convicts with either serious records or violent tendencies were detained there. The lizard nodded with reluctant agreement.

"Supposedly, yes. We decided that in order to prevent a slip of public moral, it was to kept secret. At first we though that the raid had been unsuccessful and that nothing had been stolen, but recently we have reason to believe that the Robotnik Empire may be in possession of a deadly weapon, held inside Prison Island for over five decades." Rouge's emeralds green eyes studied him for any body language that might reveal more. "Your mission is to infiltrate Imperial intelligence and find out what you can."

It didn't take Rouge long to get to the base of the pyramid, the sand around her ankles. This was the only blind spot for the radar, from her on she could take as much time as she needed. Although it was probably wise to keep moving quickly anyway, folding her wings back behind her so they aligned flawlessly with her shoulders, she scaled the side of the ancient building. Climbing was another thing she was skilled in, she'd had a lot of practise scaling the walls of banks, museums, Government facilities and similar tall buildings. It left her with a powerful set of legs she knew how to use to the best of their ability.

Reaching the set of metallic doors, hidden only by a light sprinkling of sand, Rouge examined them carefully. A platform lead away from them to a landing platform, used for shuttles on return flights from space colonies no doubt. She tapped the side of them, a loud clank replied. It was one hell of a sturdy and thick door so any thoughts she had of trying to force it open were eliminated. She pressed a button on the device on her eye, it flipped to life instantly. With this, she communicated to the computer systems that controlled the door's open and shut mechanism. Then, she simply used some gentle persuasion to make it open for her.

Giving off a loud groaning sound, the two halves slid aside, revealing a very large corridor, the floor made of ancient stone but the walls were tainted with Robotnik's metallic trademark. She was surprised that no security robots where there to welcome her in. Passing it off, Rouge proceeded inside. The only lighting was coming from the obviously modern lights strung in a parallel line on the roof. It seemed strange that these corridors were not filled with laser security systems. Hardly what she had expected. Keeping to the darkness anyway, Rouge made her way deeper and deeper into Robotnik's base.

(RaR)


	2. Chapter 2

(I do not own Sonic etc.)

* * *

Dozens of seagulls cawed loudly as they crossed over the harbour. Swooping down to catch fish near the surface of the water before souring back into the air. A few boats were tied up on the docks, fishermen's lines hanging over the side. Cargo warehouses, being filled and emptied with the large crates brought in by the larger fraters, stood near the harbour. Freshly caught fish, mackerels and large cod were being sold in a market just on the large pier that jutted out into the river. The sky was cloudless, the sun beating down with relentless summer heat. Sonic watched the bustle of the people below from his high perch, the roof of a derelict cargo warehouse. Sonic, leader of the Freedom Fighter mercenaries was only seventeen, too young for activate military service, but in light of the present state of emergency and the uniqueness of his abilities; G.U.N was willing to let it slide.

Sonic was nearly always dressed in a 'borrowed' G.U.B combat suit made of a thick leather. It was red with metal straps over his arms and legs, a thick zip down his front. Streamlined as it was, it provided less drag while the blue hedgehog used his amazing super human speed.

The blue hedgehog had been sitting there for hours, thinking about the events that had transpired only a month ago. Robotnik, with several Chaos Emeralds in his grasp unleashed his powered up Chaos Creature on Station Square. The Freedom Fighters had done everything in their power to stop this beast. Sonic had fought it before, whenever it was fed a Chaos Emerald it's strength, speed and power increased and it was pretty strong and fast to begin with. With three Chaos Emeralds inside it's liquid body, it was more than any of them could handle.

Everything had seemed hopeless until Rotor came up with a piece of equipment that would do something to Chaos' molecular structure causing him to freeze. Rotor had tried to explain it extensively, but none of them had understood a word of what he was saying.

All they had to do while the Walrus connected up the equipment, was keep Chaos busy. Which was much harder than it sounded.

Realizing what they intended, Chaos did his best to stop them and he would have succeeded had not one of their group, Captain Johnny Lightfoot connected the last wire activating the machine but at the last moment he was dealt a fatal blow by Chaos' fist, his neck and spine were shattered in an instant and before Sonic could do a thing to help him, Johnny disappeared from them forever.

Months had passed and that moment had haunted Sonic's mind ever since. The others had explained to him that it the risks had all been part of the job, risks they had all accepted when they joined the Freedom Fighters. Risk that were continually being taken by people all over Mobius against the Empire. The words had fallen of deaf ears, Sonic was beginning to loose the famous steadfast determination he was renowned for.

He shook his head. Johnny wouldn't want him mopping around like this while there was still a dictator at large. He'd have plenty of time to think about all this, **_'after'_**, Robotnik had been removed.

Jumping off the roof and landing on the pace ground below. A run should clear his head, darting between the crowd with ease, Sonic soon burst onto an open road. This was more like it, heading away from the river, Sonic soared between the buildings, dodging cars and people at several zebra crossing. The city of Station square seemed far cleaner and all around environmentally friendly than Robotropalis.

Heading uphill, Sonic noticed metal groves running along in the centre of the road. Station square could be old fashioned as well these were for cable cars, a lot of them still operated in this city. The palm trees planted alongside the roads swayed as he ran past. Another thing he liked about Station Square, it was a whole lot greener than most cities. Leaping over a Truck, Sonic ran along a wall for a moment before leaping back to then road.

Oh yeah, there it was, the familiarly tingle, the wind in his face, the sounds around him blurred, people and places passing him so quickly they looked like straight lines appearing and disappearing in an instant. This was the feeling he lived for. But somehow it had lost it's usual appeal.

Sonic stretched to a half on the top of a hill, the buildings angled to they stood upright. The long road stretched out in front of him toward a seemingly endless river. The cars coming up and down, passing on either side, the children in the back leaning out and pointing at him in excitement.

It wasn't enough any more, he needed more, he needed to really push at his limits. A simple jog around the city simply was not enough to satisfy him anymore. Backing up a few paces, Sonic threw himself as fast as his legs would go down that almost vertical sloop.

Gaining supersonic speed, the blue hedgehog shattered the sound barrier almost at once. The windows on every building shaking wildly within a five mile radius.

He was going so fast that his eyes couldn't pick out colour anymore. It was almost like running through a black and white picture. In fact, he was moving so fast he couldn't even feel the road beneath his feet, he was travelling at such a tremendous speed that his nervous system weren't given enough time to pick up the signals. He could have shot across the entire city several times without realising it by now and in that thought came the freedom he yearned for.

That was enough, whatever melancholy thoughts dogged him had been torn from his mind. He had to force his legs to stop, and for a moment they didn't listen to him, but they relented eventually and finally he came to a complete and sudden stop. Colour came flooding back and so did his sense of touch in a second. Two lines of burning fire stretching out behind him. His quills for some strange reason were pointing horizontally backward, but a bit of styling sorted that out so they curved again. He had stopped in the middle of deserted children's playground somewhere in the middle of park that took up a large section of the city. There was swing, an elephant style slide and a jungle Jim. Where he had come racing in, the sand on the ground was parted, showing the slabs of concrete underneath,

"Man that felt pretty good." He blue hedgehog said to himself, putting his arms behind his head.

"Freeze lowlife!" A voice shouted, Sonic snapped his eyes open and stared around. SWAT police were descending from several choppers overhead and squad cars were quickly forming a circle around him, the officers pulling out their guns, directing them at him. "Do not resist!" They were shouting at him. Sonic took a few steps back.

"What the hell?" He demanded, looking around as if he thought the explanation was hiding behind him. The SWAT reached the ground, the barrels of their large automatic weapons pointed at his head.

"Get down on the ground and put your hands behind your head, NOW!" The closest one shouted at him again. Police were one of the many things that Sonic was not intimidated by so he held his ground.

"Just tell me what the hell is going on!" Before he knew it, one of them reached him and locked his hands together with a pair of handcuffs.

"Sonic Hedgehog, you are under arrest, you have the right to remain silent." Once this deed was accomplished, the others came out from behind their cars, but still with their revolvers aimed right at him. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Extremely confused, Sonic did the only thing he knew how to do in a situation like this, he ran.

Kicking the Swat guy over with a flying kick, Sonic leapt over the rest of them and landed square on his feet. He may be handcuffed, but that didn't impede his ability to leg it. Just as he was about to dart away, three large G.U.N Mech's came down in front of him with a heavy thud. They were all Mech's and each of them had their large machine guns locked onto his head. Before he knew, the police had formed a semi circle behind him, cutting of any possible retreat. "I hope someone has a very good explanation for this!" He muttered to himself, lowering his arms and waiting for the Swat police to get close enough to leg cuff him. "'Cause I'm stumped."

* * *

Business had been slow. Not even G.U.N had been offering them any jobs and so for the meantime at least, the Freedom Fighters were free to undergo their own operations into Imperial territory.

"No, I'm sorry Charles. The data just doesn't justify the attempt." Amy Rose, current head of Freedom Fighter tactical operations told their contact in Robotropalis over the secure line Rotor had been able to put together. A deep scar ran down the left hand side of her face, a souvenir gained for the year Robotnik's Swat Bots' invading G.U.N territory, kidnapping her family and leaving her for dead. If she hadn't been found by a Mech patrol then she would probably not have survived. Like all officers of the Mercenary Freedom Fighters, she wore a military style uniform. Hers was a raven black and flattered her figure much more than she'd actually intended.

She was hard and cold, refusing to show any emotion. The last time she had shed tears had been when she was forced to watch SWAT bots dragged her mother away. Most people kept out of her way; only a close circle of people knew that under her cold exterior was a warm heart that yearned to love again.

Sonic's Uncle, Sir Charles Hedgehog, had been robotasized during the Coup. Some time later his free will was restored during a test run of Rotor's ongoing project, the De-robotasizer. Ever since then he had served as their chief spy in Robotnik's empire. "We only have three working Mech's and Miles and Rotor were hard pressed to get those operational. I appreciate the information, but were just not equipped to deal with it right now." The robotasized hedgehog's face on the screen in front of her narrowed his eyes. The process of robotisation was still a mystery, yet it had preserved his features perfectly, even this thick eyebrows and moustache had a metal coating. "We'd like to be there for every crisis, but we physically can't. I'm afraid the resistance is on their own on this one."

"You're very cruel." Chuck stated.

"Just realistic." She replied, before flipping a switch on the side and terminated the link. The technology to built and repair Mech's was usually beyond the average Mobians' understanding. Luckily, Miles Prower was anything but average. Apart from his physical deformity; the second tail which had caused him no end of grief when it came to a social life, the child also showed a remarkable ability to learn. With Rotor's tutelage, **'Tails' **as he was known, could understand advanced blueprints, pioneering robotics and showed a stunning knack for invention.

Coming out of the Mech bay, his orange fur smeared with oil, the first thing he was always told to do was have a shower as Antoine, their resident cook and part time Mech pilot, would not allow oily finger prints over his food.

Something it seemed had made Rotor extremely happy. He sat at the far end of the table, chatting to whoever walked in the room, without having touched his own breakfast. Koji had been trying to get out of the same conversation eight times already, tapping the kettle several times to try and hurry up boiling so he could disappear.

It was about eight in the morning, and with everyone on the base up, the kitchen was starting to get a little crowded. Rikoye, Cream and the baby green dragon chary were enjoying their cereal, the dragon eating out of the box. The base was large enough to house well over five hundred people. It had been a base during the Acorn years, abandoned at some point, then buried under a landslide. Some time later, Knothole village had been built on top of it.

Tails reminded himself to start on plans for a kitchen extension as everyone piled in, and maybe some more rooms in the bunkers under the base.

"Something's certainly made you happy." He stated to Rotor, the walrus turned to smile at him.

"You can say that again, my appeal for a tourist visit to the ARK was accepted. I've got three tickets in my pocket right now." Koji Okida turned to looked at him, a surprised look on his face.

"I didn't think they were allowing that kind of thing during war time. Especially since the ARK's a garrison." He said, sounding annoyed as he began to eat a fried egg. Porker cast him a glare.

"I know they have a lot of civilians there too, but how did you manage to pull that off?" Tails put in, before greeting Amy a greeting as she came in through the arched doorway, wearing her standard uniform, a tight fitting black leather pants and jacket, a white shirt underneath.

"Well, they weren't going to let me at first." Rotor admitted, looking slightly guilty. "But I used sort of used Sonic's well known name to make them make an acceptation and get me three seats on this afternoon's flight." Tails put his hands on his hips and gave a very disapproving glare. "I won't do it again." He added, putting his arms out in front of him defensively.

"Three seats?" Koji asked, looking up suddenly. "Can I come? I've been dying to see the ARK again!" They could almost stars in his eyes as he stared longingly upward, a wide smile on his face. "Whoever put the ARK together was an absolute genius, what inspired and original construction techniques must have been used to make it I can't imagine. You could look beyond that colony to an endless sea of stars and beyond."

"That good?" Tails asked. Koji nodded slowly, leaning back in his chair, his hands behind his head. "That does it, I'm coming too." Rotor nodded at him.

"Fine, ok then, the flight leaves at five this afternoon. The return flight's same time tomorrow."

"Hold it." A stern voice over their shoulders snapped. They turned to find Amy glaring down at them. Once again the dreaded pink hedgehog had arrived to throw water on the fire. "No one gave you any shore leave, and you don't have any in the foreseeable future, so how you find the nerve to plan a vacation eludes me."

"Ah come on, surely you can do without…"

"As a matter of fact, no we can't." Her statement cut off any hope of argument. "We're stretched as it is with most of our big gun Mech's out of action. The last thing we need is our two technicians and one of our pilots disappearing if we get a job."

"Just 'vhere is Sonic?" Antoine asked in his French accent as he peered up from his work. His chefs hat and _'kiss the cook' _apron had been smeared with spitting oil from the bacon in the pan before him. "'Zhat Hedgehog promised to help me with breakfa'zt this morning." He added as Amy pulled up a chair.

"Oh, he went out about an hour ago for another run, saw him pelting across the water, not that I know how he manages to do that. God knows where he is now."

* * *

The chopper pilot checked the com device in his ear was working before making radio contact with the control tower. The chopper was a large carrier model, belonging to the G.U.N response division. They'd been on call a lot lately and were a little over stretched, so the pilot was trying to make the flight go as fast as possible for as soon as he arrived back at Prison Island he could be called out somewhere else. G.U.N was starting to increase their military presence in other regions along the Imperial border and their choppers were needed badly to transport various, important bits and pieces and people to designated locations.

"This is sigma-alpha 2, heading due south over the city. Come in control tower ..." He spoke into his microphone, there was static for a moment then it went calm as the link was established with the control tower. "We're on route, everything's a go, over." He waited for their response, tapping the side of his helmet. Boy had he been surprised when Sonic the Hedgehog, THE, Sonic the hedgehog was escorted into his chopper, hand cuffed and legs bound. That was shocking enough, but to hear the charges brought against him hear blew his mind. He found it hard to get his head around it, the world renowned hero stealing valuables from the federal reserve bank and then two counts of resisting arrest.

"Sigma alpha 2, this is control tower. Confirmation of captured hedgehog aboard over?" Came the distorted reply, the pilot leaned back in his chair, holding his speaker between his forefinger and thumb.

"Roger that, Hedgehog secured on board and…" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as with a loud crash, the side door on the Carrier flew off its hinges. Nearly losing control of the chopper, the Pilot looked back through the window to see a blue and red shape leap out of the now open doorway, grasping hold of the choppers, missile armed wing. "What the hell!?"

Sonic, who had long since lost patience with the authorities involving all this, had come to the conclusion that these guys were not going to explain why they had arrested him. Besides, a jail cell just wasn't his scene. As soon as he had been picked up, he was on this Carrier being taken to Prison Island for incarceration, no trail, no defence. Well, screw that! If these guys weren't going to tell him what he had been charged with, then there wasn't any point in pretending like they could keep him pinned down with force.

Back flipped onto the top of the wing, Sonic had to duck to avoid a gunshot from the open door. A few of the Swat police on board had started to open fire on him.

"Sorry, like to stick around, but I make it a personnel rule never to go on an aircraft that doesn't serve in flight food." With that he ripped off a loose metal panel from the wing. "See ya!" He added with a mock salute, and jumped off the Chopper. The Swat police stared after him in amazement as he flung the metallic panel down in front of him and used it a board, the surface slowing his decent toward the streets below.

"I'm seeing it, but I'm not believing it," One of them muttered.

Letting out a loud yahoo, Sonic continued to descend toward the city streets. The board was keeping him from going too fast and ending up a blue splat on the pavement. The landing was still going to be rough, but not rough enough to kill him. The tops of buildings reached him now, and Sonic braced his body for the impact. A few seconds later, the board made contact with the tarmacs road. All Sonic's really felt was a sharp shudder through his legs, which left him a little light-headed. Before he could get off however, the steal board to move forward. With resentment, he noticed that he had landed on the sloping side of one of the many hills he had been running down lately. The momentum he had gained while in the air was sending him forward, and he was gaining a lot of speed very quickly. "Ah nuts!"

Sonic hoped this sport wouldn't catch on, the thought of having a fad such as road surfing was distressing. Sparks flying out the back, Sonic was forced down the steep slope and into on coming traffic, which he managed to avoid by pulling his weight from one side to the other. Just when he thought he'd gotten the hang of it, a squadron of police cars came roaring around a corner, sirens blazing, pulling the board upward, Sonic somersaulted over the collect of black and white cars before they officers got a chance to stop.

The police knew where he was now and he could bet that it wouldn't be long before the military realised it too, it seemed a good idea to get out of the city while he still could. First he had to get off this board and get running, which was not each as it seemed.

For the moment, all he could do was dodge, duck, serve, dodge and jump over on coming cars and police roadblocks. All the time going down hill, toward the river in the distance. White buildings and palm trees on either side, passing by in a blur of colour

Turning a sharp corner, Sonic found himself coming into a Central Park. This would have been ideal to slow him down, but fortunately much of it was still on a slope.

"Coming through!" He yelled as a young couple leapt to the side to avoid smashing into him. This was starting to get dangerous; he had to get off this thing before someone got hurt, most probably him. Pulling his weight to the left-hand side, Sonic aimed the board's front edge directly toward the turf. The front of the board slammed into the grass, sticking fast. He however was sent flying forward and straight into a hedge. "God damn it!" He cursed, straightening himself out. That bush had had thorns, and he found his body was now strewn with them.

It was nearing midnight right by the time Sonic managed to elude the police who were combing the streets for him and he was really in need of hot meal. The wind was howling against him like whips, and with nothing but an old newspaper for a blanket, he was facing a very long night. The alleyway he had crammed himself into did not provide too much protection against the elements.

News of his escape was being broadcast on the news. Sonic had seen the report in a TV in a store window. They stated that he was wanted for questioning in relation to a mysterious attack and theft at the Federal reserve bank earlier that day.

Someone had obviously set him up to take the blame for a crime he didn't commit and he had a fair idea who that someone was; some big bald guy with an unnecessarily large moustache.

"This just in…" A news reporter announced suddenly on the large public screen just across the street, one hand against his ear piece "Sonic the Hedgehog has been spotted heading down central street, reports are that he'd resisted arrest twice and injured a police officer. SWAT police are in pursuit." The small caption on the right hand side flipped on showing a picture from a live police correspondent. The view from a chopper showed a very fast object, too fast to be seen clearly darting down the high street, evading cars and on coming trucks.

Sonic watched the report with an open mouth. Whatever, or whoever this impostor was, he was amazing fast, on level with his own speed. He was evading the police with ease, which at the speed he was travelling would prove easy. No wonder they hadn't confused him with this guy. Just how many people could move that fast anyway?

Police, even the military, would have no chance of capturing this strange impostor. Despite being on the run, not to mention very hungry, but Sonic was still a Freedom Fighter. It was sort of his job to run down the bad guys, and if he ran down this one he should be able to clear his name. Getting to Central street unnoticed was no difficulty, every Cop on the beat was too busy to even know he was there, apart from picking up the occasional gust of breeze as he passed.

Arriving on the screen but keeping out of sight of the choppers that flew overhead, Sonic took a few moments to look around. Bright Neon lights ringed the buildings, glittering brightly as it began to rain. A police roadblock had blocked off one end of the street as SWAT helicopters with searchlights hovering above. A moment later, a black shape shot by crashing into the roadblock, shattering it to pieces. To anyone else, the shape would have been indistinguishable. But Sonic's eyes were faster than most, and he was perfectly capable to making it out.

A black hedgehog, moving as fast as he could as was skating down the street, actually skating on jets of light in his soles. Sonic couldn't make out his features since he was moving too fast but he caught enough to see this hedgehog a near identical copy to himself This was impossible, he was the only hedgehog who could move at those kinds of speeds. Scratch that. He was only _thing_ that could move at those kinds of speeds

Acting on instinct if nothing else, Sonic gave chase. He came level with the black hedgehog easily and the two of them kept a steady level speed for a moment. The black hedgehog noticed the blue one, blaring at Sonic with a red eye. Then with surprisingly fast reflexes, he shot a kick toward him. Sonic dodged it, just barley though and the two of them came to a screeching stop.

Sonic for the first time beheld his look alike in his full glory. This hedgehog was his spitting image, if you pardon the black and red fur with blazing red eyes. A tuft of snow-white fur on his chest, his chin protruding over it, red streaks ran over each quill. His eyes were outlined by the same streak. His gloves were the same as Sonic's only his wrists had a gold, red and black bracelet on them. His shoes were mainly white, with a ring of red running around the edges with two black stripes near the heal. He was pressed in an Imperial battle uniform, used by their soldiers in combat, the Imperial logo on the breast. The suit was buckled several times around the arms and legs and a belt around the waist.

What drew Sonic's attention as what the Black hedgehog was holding, tight in his left hand was a Chaos emerald, glowing softly blue.

Sonic was never the brightest kid the classroom, but even he could put two and two together.

"So you're the guy the military's mistaken me for.." The black hedgehog sneered at him. "I'm not going to ask where you got the emerald since I have a fair idea already." He pointed a finger at him. "So I'll ask this instead, just who are you?"

"I am Shadow." He replied with no moment of hesitation. "So you're the blue hedgehog I was told to expect interference from…Sonic isn't it?" He held the emerald out in front of himself, his fingers tightening around it. "Remarkable wouldn't you say, the jewel containing the ultimate power."

"I know very well about the Chaos emeralds, so you'd best give that thing to me." Shadow sneered, then dropped his arms to his sides.

"No, I don't think so, I actually need this beauty." He gave Sonic an evil half glance. "Want to see why?" Then, he tightened his grip around the emerald, his eyes bulge and his teeth clenching. Sonic had to step back as he felt an overwhelming surge of power spread through Shadow's body. "CHAOS CONTROL!" He yelled. A bright green light engulfed him and in that very same instant he was gone. Sonic caught a glimpse of something black and red going past him. But it was so fast that even he couldn't follow it. Turning around, he spotted Shadow, tossing the emerald from hand to the other, stand on the rooftops of the opposite side of the street. That was incredible, he'd been able to bend time and space by using Chaos emerald. Not even Chaos had been able to do that.

"A clever trick." Sonic muttered under his breath. A smirk crossed Shadow's face.

Alicia was never one to admit it, but even she was impressed. This Shadow's skill far exceeded her own with strength and speed surpassing anything the Empire had ever seen. He had dealt with those G.U.N Mech's with little trouble at all and evaded the pitiful police with ease. She had been watching the whole thing on the projections a stealth Orb Snivley had been able to get across the border were sending back to Imperial land.

"What say you dear Alicia?" Snivley asked, giving her a glare over his shoulder. "Think you can keep a secret for the promise of power?" The squirrel looked down at him sceptically.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" She asked. A smile forged it's way onto Snivley's face. Shadow came hurtling down from the building with a fist drawn back. Sonic descended into a fighting stance and prepare a defence, before the black hedgehog disappeared in a green flash. Dropping his guard in surprise, Sonic left himself open to an attack from behind.

"CHAOS SPEAR!" Someone yelled and several bolts of golden lightning struck the blue hedgehog's back, searing his uniform. Yelling, he fell to his knees, most of his body in intense pain. A shadow fell over him and look up, cringing, he saw the black hedgehog standing there blocking the moonlight with a sadistic grin on his face. "I don't know what they were worried about. You're nothing compared to me, less than nothing! I don't see any reason why I should waste the energy destroying you." He held the emerald out in front of himself again and in that same instant he was gone again. Sonic reached after him, yelling out something that need not be repeated. "So longer looser!" He heard Shadow call after him.

"Looser?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Hands in the air!" Came the ultimatum from nearly every direction. Sonic snapped around, seeing that a sizeable number of G.U.N swat police, mobile suits and choppers had been able to sneak up on him without him noticing. Big Foot Mech's were being hot dropped from carriers floating above the buildings, the blare from a searchlight smacked him in the face; forcing him to shield his eyes. Even now they were closing in around him. He'd been caught again; how incredibly embarrassing.


	3. Chapter 3

(I do not own Sonic etc.)

* * *

Tails felt very guiltily, and with good reason. He, Rotor and Koji had left without Amy's permission to make sure of those tickets. Goodness knows what their superior officer was going to say once they got back. Tails could just picture it now, a cold, sadistic pink maniac making them scrub out the Mech's exhaust engines for the next year and a half.

But whatever guilt any of them could feel was soon washed away when they got his first glimpse of the Space Colony Ark through the porthole window next to his seat. The shuttle flight had taken off an hour ago and, despite a nasty rise from the atmosphere, it was a pleasant, uneventful flight. The ARK was just like Koji had described, endlessly impressive. A marvel of engineering if every there was one. Seeing this was worth cleaning out the Mech's for a year.

"Thar she blows." Okida stated, looking over the fox's shoulder. The ARK was a semi circular shape, that shape made it easier for the Colony to resist the pull of gravity from the planet below. Originally, the ARK's outer appearance had been completely metallic but over the years, comets and space debris had collided with the station, becoming embedded on it's surface, so now it looked like one big asteroid, with the flat surface at the top, or bottom of the colour being kept clear of rouge bodies by laser turrets. Even from here, Tails could see the city on that flat surface, buildings projecting out from the main body of the colony itself. A sea of lights highlighting the otherwise dark colony.

"Woah, Look at the size of that thing." Tails exclaimed, pressed his face against the glass to try and get a better look. Admittedly, the view of ARK was spectacular and there really wasn't enough space in those tiny porthole windows to see it properly, Koji grinned, leaning back in his chair. They were going to see a lot more of the colony on this trip. The inside was a lot more impressive than the outside. Rotor was reading a tourist's brochure he'd taken out of the net on the back of the seat in front of him. The interior of civilian shuttles had been done up so it felt very much like the inside of a plane. That made the passengers a lot more comfortable, and a few of them were acting a little apprehensively toward first flight beyond the stratosphere. "And this was built fifty years ago?" Koji nodded.

"Yeah, during the late technology age, at the start of the Overlander invasion. It had been an Overlander station but had been taken by a force lead by King Acorn himself. Before that time, the ARK had been constructed not only to house civilians but as a secret weapons lab." He paused to point toward the large cone in the centre of the colony, angled toward the planet. "That's one of those weapons now, nasty big bugger." Tails stared at it, so he was right, that had been a weapon after all. He remembered talking to Rotor about the ARK and it's history not too long ago. "I suppose G.U.N would be using it now, but it was decommissioned some time ago at the end of the war and no one really knows how to reactivate it safely."

"What's it do?" Tails asked. Okida clenched his teeth and took in air with a sigh.

"I can't tell you that, top secret."

"But you don't work for G.U.N anymore." Tails argued. Koji looked around to make sure that no one was ease dropping.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to start blabbing every secret the Government entrusted me with." His tone was slightly agitated and Tails decided to leave it at that.

"Guys, don't you feel ever so slightly guilty?" The fox asked, changing the subject. Rotor put the pamphlet back with an irritated sigh, shaking his head from side to side, flapping his ears.

"For the fifth time Tails, relax will you. Amy'll hardly notice we've gone." But Tails carried on, deciding to state his fears so they knew how he felt about the whole thing.

"But what if we get a job, she'll notice then!" Okida laughed out load, tilting his head back.

"We'll be back tomorrow. I doubt we'll get anything big before then. You need to live a little more. Besides, just how angry can she get?" Tails rolled his eyes, imagining several variations of explicit torture the pink one could inflict. As Rotor leaned back into his chair, the shuttle shock slightly, the docking with the Colony was taking place.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. Welcome to the Space Colony ARK, in a few moments the docking procedures will be complete, I'd like to advise you keep your seat belts on and trays in an upright position, thank you." Came the distorted voice over the intercom over their heads. Koji leaned back and put his arms behind his head, closing both eyes. Tails was still staring out of the window, it's immense size just had him in awe, the sheer mass of the buildings coming up past him as the shuttle advanced further and further toward the open shuttle doors that would be their destination had him sitting there, incapable of moving.

Finally, the shuttle slid inside the colony itself and the blinds on the outside of the porthole came down, blocking the view. Tails withdrew his face, looking slightly disappointed. Rotor pulled himself up out of his seat, followed by Koji, Tails took a moment to pull himself together before leaving his seat as well, as if he thought someone would try and steal it.

"Welcome all new comers to the ARK." Stepping off the shuttle into the shuttle bay, a holographic display of a female mobian blue bird appeared before them. The other passengers had gathered just before the flight of metal stairs that had been wheeled up to the side of the shuttle. _"Where technology and dreams come together for the future. Tours of the historical sector will be taking place shortly. Until then, you can rest in your designated Hotels."_

Stepping off the shuttle into the shuttle bay, a holographic display of a female mobian blue bird appeared before them. The other passengers had gathered just before the flight of metal stairs that had been wheeled up to the side of the shuttle. 

"Place is sure a lot more commercial since I left." Okida commented, his bag hung over his shoulder. The colony guards were herding them all down a long corridor with a high ceiling to the inside of the space station. All along the walls in neon lights were ads for various products, the names of half of which none of them could pronounce the name of. "I remember the days when this was a formal garrison."

"Well they had to allow advertising companies when so many civilians started moving in with the soldiers." Rotor explained, his head still buried in the brochure.

The Space Colony's interior was divided into three sectors, the outer commercial sector where the civilians were allowed to take up residence. The second sector towards the centre was the Garrison itself, no non-combative personnel were allowed inside. It was here G.U.N houses the colonies defensive systems, their Mech's and weapons. The very core of the colony had been sealed off since the Overlander wars. None had gone in or out since then. Some had considered blasting it open, but due to the fact that the slightest mistake out blow half the colony in half, they refrained.

"This place…" Tails began, his mouth wide open at the city around him, with cars and other vehicles going this and that, crowds of people pushing past each other on the streets, just like any city on the planet's surface. "Is amazing." Koji paused to braw in a deep breath.

"Ah, synthesized air. Nothing like it." The next hour they spent going around looking for somewhere that would put them up for the night. Once they found a small place, they went out to explore the city. Koji guided them to various points. He had been stationed here once and knew the place like the back of his hand.

The civilian sector was very much like Station Square with an artificial ceiling. Tails had thousands of questions about how the colony worked, and while Okida wasn't able to answer most of them he did his best to satisfy his curiosity. After finishing the brochure, began sketching the technology he saw in his note book for future reference.

Without warning there was a sudden large explosions from some distance away and everyone stopped to stare. Lights suddenly went off and the entire city was plunged into complete darkness as the regulation systems shut themselves off. The holograms around the city buzzed off for a minute, before a single image appeared in their stead.

"Snivley!" Rotor exclaimed finding the face of Dr. Robotnik's nephew staring at them from nearly every direction.

"Attention citizens of ARK." he announced. "Your colony is now under Imperial control." Even as he spoke, G.U.N forces stationed in the garrison were quickly being overtaken by Imperial Swat Bots and Mech's. The shuttle bays sealed and communications were completely shut down. This take over had been extensively planed, the entire colony thrown under Imperial rule in a matter of minutes, leaving no one any time to send any distress signals. "Comply with forces now occupying the station and you will not be harmed. Resist, and you will be terminated on the spot, you have been warned." This face disappeared, leaving the city in utter chaos as Mech's and SWAT bots moved freely through the streets, rounding up everyone they could.

* * *

Shadow forced the doors to the room open with one hand, the two large sheets of steal fell back and into a dark oblivion beyond. The dark hedgehog smirked at the room inside, before entering. The room was oval shaped, with a long pillar directly in the middle of it, with a long metallic catwalk leading up to the pillar from the door. There was no apparent ceiling or floor, the darkness seemed to be hiding how big the room actually was. Different platforms encircled the pillar, each being the service floor for a series of complex, yet incredibly advanced computer system. The pillar was engraved with different ancient symbols, the wires and steal interwoven with them. Holographic computer screen displays spun around the pillar almost like there were in orbit. Smiling evilly, Shadow approached the pillar, and jumped up onto the nearest platform. Good, just as he expected, even after all these years the equipment was still in pristine condition. A few cobwebs here and there and an awful lot of dust, but workable all the same.

He stood facing a panel, with seven emerald shaped slots engraved in it. He brought up the three Chaos emeralds he was holding, one glowing blue, the other glowing grey and the last one glowing orange. With a sadistic laugh, he placed the three of him in three of the slots, the machine letting out a loud hum that sounded very much like a heavily voice. A pillar of light engulfing each one in turn before a slot closed over them. With each new emerald added, the holographic displays changed, showing the increase in power the machine was receiving.

Once the last emerald was in place, Shadow turned to look back over his shoulder.

"Three emeralds is a good start." He said with a shushed whisper, looking back at those who had staged the take over on the Colony, Snivley and Alicia. The two of them stood at the entrance to the chamber. "But if my plan is to work, we need all of the seven Chaos emeralds." Snivley narrowed his eyes, oh, so it was _HIS_ plan now.

"While we're grateful for your help, I still don't know what your plan entails." He said sharply, deciding to let the black hedgehog keep the credit for now. Shadow turned to face him directly, a cruel evil smirk on his face.

"Well, I suppose you should know." His smile grew wider, then he gestured to the pillar behind him. "This is the centre for a weapon far more powerful than anything conceived before it, created by Prof. Gerald Robotnik…" He paused to narrow his red eyes at the doctor. "Grandfather of your uncle, ruler of the Empire." Snivley moved closer, quickly followed by his Mobian partner. The two of them travelled right up to the pillar and eyed it sceptically. "Not many people are allowed to know that the ARK housed a top secret research facility, where weapons of mass destruction were being created. Overlander toys. " Shadow added, encircling the pillar, keeping his right hand on it at all times, his expression no longer evil and sadistic but a far away look on his face instead. "This is their greatest work, a weapon capable of demolishing an entire planet." That got their attention. "Codenamed…" Shadow ran his handed over a metallic panel, whipping away of fifty years of dust. The letters, **E C L I P S E**, were engraved on the side. "The Eclipse Cannon."

"Destroying an entire planet?" Snivley his eyes wide and his mind open to the possibilities. He could overthrow Robotnik in a day and crush G.U.N into the dust beneath his feet. So, this was the Robotnik family's legacy, one that he would cherish. Boy was Robotnik in for a surprise.

"However, the machine has been deactivated for sometime." Shadow put in, walking back to the emerald panel and stopping. "In order to fully charge the machine, we need the energy from all seven chaos emeralds." He patted the panel affirmatively. "Once you have that, then you have the ultimate power of destruction to use as you please. Then…" Another sadistic smile crossed his lips. "We shall all get what we deserve."

"I like the way you think Shadow." Alicia stated, walking around to study the dark hedgehog further, taking note of the muscles under his suit with seductive pleasure. Shadow sneered

Just like he'd thought, even after all these years, they remained these pathetic, greedy, pieces of trash like these two, preying on the small amount of innocent people in existence, turning something of value into a twisted nightmare.

Do you really think it will be that easy?" Asked a feminine voice. They all stared back the way they'd come. Shadow followed his gaze. Walking slowly toward them was a female bat, snow white fur and emerald green eyes. She wore a black jump-suit with knee high white boots. It was Rouge.

"How did you get in here?" Alicia demanded. The bat smiled, the reached behind her back and withdrew a fist sized, red Chaos emerald. Snivley was a little stunned for a moment, before regaining himself.

"Dose it matter?" She asked, winking at him. Alicia's gaze drifted from the emerald to her and back again, muttering something that sounded very much like a couple of curses.

Once inside Robotnik's base on the surface, Rouge discovered a transporting device that was already pre-set to bring her directly to ARK. Discovering it completely under Robotnik's control, she decided that open conflicted with such a large force was not an option. Infiltrating this group was clearly the more logical option. "You can have it." She said sweetly, tossing the emerald through the air. Shadow caught it one hand, stared at it for a moment, before nimbly slamming it quickly into the machine. With a loud whirr the machine glowed bright blue as it now contained energy from over half of the emeralds. Hidden lines in the curved walls of the room glowed brightly, before subsiding. "And I would consider it a great honour if I could serve the great and powerful Snivley in his quest to remove the decedent Dr. Robotnik from his seat of power." She added with a short bow. Shadow folded his arms and turned away in disgust.

"Oh please." He muttered to himself. While Snivley wasn't by any means stupid, he was easily flattered. Swelling out his chest as best he could, he smiled evilly; looking slightly less pathetic than before. If this girl could find a chaos emerald, then her hunting skills must be above those of the average mobian. Yes they could use this one.

"Very well, you're hired." He stated, the fact that he had no intention of paying here common knowledge, which made Snivley even more pleased that she didn't ask for any compensation for her efforts. "And what name may I call you by?" She straightened up with a suspicious glint in her eye that only Shadow caught.

"I'm Rouge the bat, but you can call me Rouge."

* * *

Taking a few days to calm himself down and drown his sorrows in alcohol, Dr. Robotnik began to slowly resume his duties as emperor. Emerging from his private chamber, his chin sweep clean in a close shave and his clothes done up properly, the Doctor was greeted by several SWAT bots, all of which saluted him.

"Just where is that nephew of mine?" He demanded, coming into the large throne room and seating himself in his throne. The throne room was a giant shaft like chamber with three catwalks connecting themselves to a central platform in the middle, just above a sheer three hundred foot drop. The mechanical throne could move on a rail, providing Robotnik access to all the screens and consoles that curved around the outsider of the chamber. Robotasized personnel were manning the stations, recording all the images the Stealth Orbs brought in, various tactical information from the border and the current read outs of their military forces. "I haven't seen him for days and usually by now he's grovelling at my feet about something." He grumbled and pressed a button on his arm rest, the throne moving up to face the large screens. Some of them were monitoring the news broadcasts coming from the Free lands.

"You summoned me sire?" Sleet, one of Robotnik's most trusted generals asked as he entered the room. Sleet was a wolf, with a thick blue mane behind his head. He had been in the Doctor's service since the start of his campaign.

"Have you seen lieutenant Snively?" The doctor asked without looking back.

"No sir. Not for a few days." Robotnik did not reply to that. For a few moments he was silent before he spoke again.

"I suppose those under my rule are stilling plotting my doom?"

"A few of the council families are grumbling. But I doubt they'll try anything." Sleet Replied, walking over and standing beside his master. Sleet was about to ask Robotnik if he had anything spectacular plans to ensure his power base in Robotropalis before launching another attack on G.U.N when it happened.

"HOLD IT!" Robotnik suddenly exclaimed, nearly toppling out of his seat as a report with the words _'Sonic' _and _'Hedgehog' _in the title. The robot sized slave flipped through a few more before recovering the footage.

"Sources are conflicting, but all seem to agree that it was the world renowned Sonic the Hedgehog of the Freedom Fighter mercenary group that attacked the Federal Reserve and stole a priceless Chaos Emerald from the vaults." The report announced. Robotnik's eyes widened, now this was extremely interesting. _"This footage was shot form one of the security camera's at the time of the theft." _The screen changed to show video footage of a black shape with very hedgehog like quills tear it's way through several layers of bank security before stealing one of the familiar Chaos Emeralds.

The report announced. Robotnik's eyes widened, now this was extremely interesting. The screen changed to show video footage of a black shape with very hedgehog like quills tear it's way through several layers of bank security before stealing one of the familiar Chaos Emeralds. 

"I knew that Merc scum was a low life." Sleet laughed, flooding his arms. "Out from himself." Robotnik leaned back into his chair, the image freezing on the dark shape as it momentarily turned to face the camera. He could see a pair of blazing red eyes staring at them.

"That isn't Sonic." Robotnik stated. This he knew for a fact, for he knew exactly who this creature was. All the Robotnik family did and only they knew of his existence, but had little reason to revive him. Only Snivley was ignorant of the details. "Find Snivley." Robotnik said, turning to give Sleet a desperate side glance. "Find him now!" No one could see the Robotasized hedgehog hiding in the air vent a short distance above their heads, listening to their every word, recording it for future reference on a tape in his hand.

Chuck looked worried. Just what had his nephew gotten himself into this time?

* * *

The sky was a bright blue when the police transport helicopter flew over the bay and settled down on the landed pad, an armed squadron of soldiers ready to meet it. Ever since Sonic had been convicted of stealing from the Federal Reserve Bank, the Government had declared the Freedom fighter mercenaries an illegal organisation. Anyone with known affiliations with the group were being brought in for questioning.

"Look, I didn't do anything." Sonic yelled loudly as the two guards escorted him, kicking and screaming down the cell bay. Just in case he tried to escape again, one of them had been given a large automatic laser cannon. They had confiscated his red uniform and forced him into an orange prison one piece suit, his usual attire confiscated.

"That's what they all say." One of them muttered, flinging Sonic into a vacant cell, the bars descending behind them, slamming into place. "G.U.N's been tolerating you and your Freedom Fighter's vigilante behaviour for far too long. Now that we have you, it won't be long before we bring in your lowlife stooges." He added spitefully, a venomous look on his face before turning his back; motioning for the other guards to follow him. Sonic waited until they were a good distance away, before backing up to the far wall of the cell. These military guys should know that this wasn't going to hold him. Going into a super spin, he slammed directly into the bars, only to have his entire body repelled. Slamming back against the wall, the only reward Sonic got for his efforts was a sore backside.

"Megatal, brilliant!" He muttered to himself. Megatal was a near indestructible alloy created by Doctor Robotnik for experimental use in Swat Bot and Mech technology. It seems G.U.N had caught onto the idea. Ok then, no getting out that way. Standing up, but taking a minute to rub his back, Sonic inspected his cell. It seemed only five by three feet, with nothing to even sit on, brilliant accommodation. The walls must have a steal plate just inside them, judging by the loud clank they made when he tapped them. And getting out through the ceiling was not going to happen as it was at least thirty meters above his head and made out of solid concrete As much as Sonic hated to admit it, for the time being he was stuck fast with no way out. Prison Island was actually a peninsula off the western coast of Capital City. Prison Island itself had been artificially created as the ultimate military base, impervious from attack from any direction. In time, environmentalists persuaded the government to sewn the island with plant life, and very quickly a large rain forest had covered the ground.

Getting inside the holding area was not hard, but finding anything in this vast holding area would be. This part of the base was under constant 24 hour surveillance by security camera's that pivoted around 360 degrees to see from absolutely any angle, so security guards were not required down there. As such, the heating was re-routed away from the . Using her wing claws and the sharp tips of her boots, Rouge crawled along the large, ice cold pipes that stretched across the ceiling. The holding area was arranged into three floors, each one colour co-ordinated. The doors of many cells lined the walls, some outlined red, other yellow and the rest blue.

Catwalks stretched across from wall to wall occasionally, moveable ladders sat unused on the platforms that rimmed each section. A few Laser Hunters, the new robots developed by G.U.N for guard duty, were patrolling the ground floor. They weren't as large as their SWAT bot templates, but they moved a lot faster and had greater armaments. Rouge had the advantage of course being able to fly, so they weren't anything to bother about. Prison Island had an impressive amount of security outside, but inside it was actually quite pitiful.

A loud explosion rang out and the ground visibility shook, well, Snivley had started his attack on the military. They wouldn't be distracted for long, so she had best not waist much time. Shadow would have the timers on the explosives set for only a couple of minutes, she would have to get her prize and get out in that select time.

She flipped the scouter over her left eye one, now viewing her surroundings through a special lens. A huge amount of Chaos energy was being generated from middle floor, from a large cell bay that was pad locked. There weren't any more traces of chaos energy outside it, so kind of them to put both the emeralds in one place for her.

Dropping down from the pipe, Rouge descended slowly, allowing her wings to slow her down. Her breath was coming out in a white mist, showing how cold it was in here. Finally she reached the platform and let her wings drop her down, after pulling herself up to a standing position; she stared at the cell where a lot of Chaos energy was leaking out through the sides of the door. Backing up a bit first, she leapt forward and smashed an extremely powerful kick straight into the centre of it. It buckled, before crashing to the floor. It wouldn't be long before the cameras picked her up and security would come pouring in, so she leapt into the cell to claim her prise. Stacked rather clumsily against the side of the wall were the two emeralds she sought. The smaller was a bright purple with a white haze around it. The second was yellow with a golden tinge to it.

Rouge asked herself briefly if she actually had a plan for getting these things away from the likes of Snivley and Shadow once the time came to stab them all in the back. Well, not really, but she'd think of something when the time came.

Her reports told her that this place had one last Chaos emerald to hide and that was confirmed by her scouter, that showed another source of Chaos energy on the ground floor. And the odd thing was, that it appeared to be moving.

Her wings spreading out, she dropped down through the floor to land squally on her feet in front of a familiar figure.

"YOU AGAIN!" Snarled a voice. Rouge sneered and cursed loudly as she spotted a familiar red Echidna standing just outside a cell bay entrance. Knuckles stood there, spurs held forward and anger etched into every muscle on his face. Clad in traditional Echidan robes draped across his shoulders, Knuckles had warrior tattoos engraved all over his face and chest, white bandages wrapped around his dreadlocks. A deep scar ran over one eye. Rouge mimicked his stare. This was the same Echidna she'd had to wrestle to steal her original Chaos Emerald from. In his large gloved hand with the spurs on was the last Chaos Emerald, an emerald that pulsated with a mint green glow. "I can sense the rest of the Chaos Emeralds on you." Knuckles murmured to himself, staring past her for a moment towards the backpack between her wings. "Thief, you really know how to make me mad!" He let out a battle cry and leapt forward, throwing a punch in her direction. Rouge flew upward, dodging the blow, rebounding off the ceiling and spiralling downward with a kick. Knuckles rolled to the side, then swung his own legs around, knocking the bats feet out from under her.

Rouge was back on her feet in an instant, jumping back s to land effortlessly on a rail.

"I got here first Red, finder's keepers." She said with a seductive smirk, unfazed, Knuckles advanced again.

"Those emeralds belong on the Floating island and it's my duty to return them, so hand them over." Rouge laughed at him, which actually made the Echidna blush slightly.

"Oh, isn't that cute?" Rouge asked, smiling. "The little Echidna wants to fulfil he duty? Well forget it, they're mine now." Knuckles regained his anger and clenched both fists.

"Think what you want, don't matter much to me. Now just hand over the other Chaos emerald you stole from me and you can walk away alive." Rouge was not at all impressed by the Red Echidna's attitude, and she was not about to let this prize escape her. Leaping back, she took hold of the purple emerald. Knuckles, acting on pure instinct alone, jumped forward to try and intercept her but she kicked him aside and somersaulted over the side.

"Maybe next time Red." She blew him a kiss, plummeting down toward the floor about twenty five meters below. Knuckles ran after her, and scowled angrily as she used her wings to get a soft landing, then quickly running into a side door and out of sight. Damn it! She got away with more of them! She was becoming a real pain in the … alarms went off, blaring loudly in his ears. Knuckles barred his teeth. He didn't know that much about the ways of the surface dwellers, but that couldn't have been good.

* * *

R&R 


End file.
